Religion Newswriters offers its first ever “Webinar” online training series. The seminars
begin in March with a general overview of Islam. These sessions are free to journalists.
For more details and registration procedures for each seminar, click the links below.
* Covering Islam 101
March 12, 2008, 2–3:15 PM EDT
* Covering Islam & Politics
April 22, 2008, 2–3:15 PM EDT
* The Role of Religion in Conflict Prevention & Peacemaking
Date TBD
* Freedom of Religion in the Military
Date TBD
These seminars are made possible by a generous grant from the McCormick Tribune
Foundation.
Covering Islam 101
DATE: March 12, 2008
TIME: 2–3:15 PM EDT
COST: FREE
REGISTRATION: Online
LOCATION: Online
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
From schools and workplaces to government and entertainment, Muslims are influencing life
in America as their numbers grow. Whether you report on the war, politics, religion or a
metro area, this seminar will help you develop sources, generate story ideas, add context
to stories, and report with insight and balance. You’ll learn:
* When religion is—and isn’t—part of the story.
* Major issues facing the diverse Muslim community and what you need to know about the
world’s second-largest religion.
* How to choose words carefully and why some terms and statistics are disputed.
* How to report on sensitive issues such as prejudice and terrorism with thoughtfulness
and accuracy.
PRESENTERS
Farid Senzai is a fellow and director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and
Understanding, which researches the Muslim community in the United States. He is also an
assistant professor of political science at Santa Clara University. Senzai has been a
research associate at the Brookings Institution, where he studied U.S. foreign policy
toward the Middle East, and a research analyst at the Council of Foreign Relations, where
he worked on the Muslim Politics project. He has served as coordinator for Oxford
Analytica, an international consulting firm, and the World Bank. Senzai received his M.A.
in International Affairs from Columbia University and is completing his Ph.D. in political
science at Oxford University.
Andrea Useem is a journalist who specializes in writing about Islam. She writes the
religionwriter.com blog and has written for Religion News Service, the Pew Forum on
Religion & Public Life and other media outlets. She also is communications editor for
IFOCCOS, a new-media think tank and futures lab. A resident of Reston, Va., she has a
master of theological studies degree from Harvard Divinity School and a bachelor’s degree
in religion from Dartmouth College.
Diane Connolly is editor of ReligionLink, Religion Newswriters’ online resource on
religion, public policy and culture. Before ReligionLink was founded six years ago, she
was editor or The Dallas Morning News’ award-winning religion section.